The Raven and the Mama bear (revised)
by ClarisantScript
Summary: Mal Moors is a single mom whose abusive ex-husband made her wary of any man who gets to close to her or her daughter. Diaval Riley is a single dad whose flighty ex-wife left him and his son for another man. Their children come up with an idea that'll hopefully make both their parents happy again. But will it all go according to plan? Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcome.
1. Aurora's Fight

Maleficent Moors (or Mal as she preferred to be called) hadn't expected her day to go like this. She did not expect to have to rush from her job, jump into her car and race over to her daughter's school. She had rushed into the school and was told where to wait by a small blond woman at the front desk. She had now been waiting in the hallway outside the principle's office for almost twenty minutes now and her mind had started conjuring up the worst-case scenario for why the Principle had been called her here - that scenario being Aurora's father Stefan. Stefan Kingsley had been charming when Mal had first started dating him. He had brought her flowers and chocolate and she had fallen completely under his spell. After about a year of dating they had gotten married and Mal thought she was finally getting her happily ever after with her prince charming.

About two months into their marriage however, Stefan slowly started to turn abusive and started to get more controlling over Mal. Over the next two years, the abuse quickly went from emotional to physical and the breaking point finally came one night when Stefan had attacked her with a knife. Luckily, someone had heard the commotion and called the cops. Mal wasn't seriously injured, but she had gotten two shallow cuts on her back as she tried to run away from Stefan.

Due to this, and the fact that she was still in shock from the attack, the hospital staff decided that it would be best to keep her over night. The doctors did the usual things; they checked over all her vitals, took a blood sample and then allowed her to get some much needed rest in a safe environment. In the morning, Mal was given the news that she was about a month and a half pregnant. The knowledge that she had someone else to protect finally snapped Mal out of the daze she had been in since the attack. Mal swore that she would never be so foolish again and that she would always protect herself and now her baby from the Stefan's of the world. Over the course of the next year Mal gave birth to a baby girl who she named Aurora, divorced Stephan and gotten sole custody of their daughter, then watched with relief as the judge had sentenced Stefan to life in prison for attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Once she was finally free of Stephan, Mal packed her newborn daughter and their few belongings into her car and drove away. She drove halfway across the country and ended up settling in a small town called Thornwall. Mal managed to find work at the local flower shop, which was owned by an elderly woman named Kathy. Kathy was fifty-six years old and had a soft spot for the young mother as Kathy had left a bad marriage with two sons and no money thirty years prior. With both her sons grown up and moved out, Kathy had the space to rent out the basement of her house to Mal. Kathy's house had originally been a duplex, so the basement had it's own bathroom and kitchen, along with two bedrooms and a small living room. Kathy had helped Mal move in, helped redecorate the basement, baby-sat Aurora when Mal had to run errands and allowed Mal to bring Aurora to the store when they had to work. When Aurora was three and had just talk, she had started to refer to Kathy as "Granny" and Mal followed suit. They had become a little family and by the time Aurora was five and in school, Mal had become very accustomed and happy with her life in Thornwall. Until about twenty minutes ago that is.

_Twenty Minutes Ago…_

"Hello, thanks for calling Magic Forest flowers. How may I help you?" Mal had answered the phone like she always did.

"Is this Maleficent Moors?" Mal sat up strait, suddenly nervous. Very few people used her full name. "Yes, this is she." "Hello, I'm calling from Thornwall Elementary School. It's regarding your daughter Aurora, there was some trouble today and we need you to come here as soon as possible." Mal's heart gave a small jolt of fear and she had assured the woman that she would be there in about ten minutes. Mal ran into Kathy's office and told her what was going on. After promising to call Kathy as soon as she had had news on Aurora, Mal had hopped into her car and raced to the school.

_Back to the Hallway…_

"Miss. Moors?"

Mal looked up to see a short, brown haired woman wearing a pink sweater and skirt looking up at her. "Yes?" the shorter woman smiled kindly. "My name is Penny Knotgrass, I'm the principle here. If you'll come this way please." Mal followed her into her office and had just managed to walk through the door when a small blond blur launched itself across the room at her screaming "Mama!" The small blond blur, or Aurora as most people called her, had grabbed onto her mother's leg and started squeezed tightly. Mal smiled down at Aurora and reached down to pick her up, pressing a small kiss to her daughter's temple before settling Aurora on her hip. Carrying Aurora, Mal made her way over to a chair facing Miss. Knotgrass's desk. Once she had sat down with Aurora in her lap, Mal addressed the woman. "May I ask why I was called here today?" Miss. Knotgrass sighed and nodded tiredly. "There was a fight between Aurora and another student in her class, Damon Riley, that got out of hand. I'd like to wait until the boy's father arrives to get into the details." Mal noticed and absentmindedly started to stroke her daughter's soft blond curls. As she was rubbing her daughters head, she felt a small lump. "Aurora?" Mal looked down into a pair of wide blue eyes. "Yes, Mama?" "What happened to your head?" Aurora's eyes filled with tears. "He hit me!" Aurora yelled pointing across the room. The "he" in question was a small, black haired boy who was glaring at Aurora.

"Did not!" He yelled back. This denial didn't go over well with Aurora and pretty soon the two five year olds had started a full-blown yelling match. All anyone could hear was mixed yells of "Did not!" and "Did to!" After a good ten minutes of trying and failing to get both children to calm down, a dark haired man burst through the door.

"What have you done to my beautiful son?!"


	2. Enter the Raven

"What have you done to my beautiful son?!" The man yelled.

"Daddy!" Damon cried and ran over to the dark haired man, grabbing on to his pant leg. The man reached down and picked up Damon, murmuring soothing words and stroking his hair much like Mal had done with Aurora. The man then looked over at Mal and Aurora.

"Did that child hurt Damon? If my beautiful son is getting bullied, Miss. Knotgrass, I promise there will be hell to pay!" Mal's eyes narrowed angrily as she studied the man. He wasn't an overly tall man, but he wasn't short either. He had pale white skin, dark brown/black eyes, and his dark black hair was slicked back. He had a sharp pointed nose and a small pink mouth. He had slight stubble on his face and Mal noticed a small scar on the right side of his face that went from his temple to just under his eye. He was wearing a white dress shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a black tie. His shirt was wrinkled and his shoes were scuffed. "Your "beautiful" son" Mal managed to growl out through her gritted teeth "Has injured my daughter and I came here to collect her and take her to the doctor. If any part of her has been permanently or severely damaged I can promise you that you will be hearing from my lawyer!" The dark haired man looked at Mal in shock, stopping his rant to actually look at the woman in front of him. She was pale and willowy with long legs that were covered with black tights. She wore a sleeveless dark olive green dress covered in brown and grey flecks with a gray/brown jacket. She had a strong nose, full red lips, and very prominent cheekbones. Her eyes really took him by surprise. They were some of the brightest, greenest eyes he had ever seen. As he tried to splutter out a response to her scathing threat, Miss. Knotgrass felt a major headache coming on but before she could open her mouth and attempt to try and keep the peace between the two parents, who were now glaring at each other, the small, thin woman who had been sitting at the front desk ran into the office and looked apologetically at the principle. She smoothed down the front of her soft green dress and blew a wispy, white-blond curl out of her face before speaking "I'm so sorry Miss. Knotgrass, but he heard the children yelling and then ran in here before I could even try and stop him." Miss. Knotgrass looked away from her secretary, looked over to the two dark haired males, sighed softly, then turned her attention back on the blond. "That's quite alright Miss. Thistlewit. You may go back to your work." Miss. Thistlewit nodded at the principle and exited the office hurriedly. Miss. Knotgrass turned her attention on the dark haired man again.

"If you'll please sit down Mr. Riley. We still have to sort out the matter at hand." Mr. Riley nodded stiffly at her and with one last, half-hearted glare at Mal; he sat down in the chair settling his son, who was still glaring daggers at Aurora, into his lap. Miss. Knotgrass looked at both of the parents sternly "I'd like to get this matter sorted out as quickly and cleanly as possible, so if we could keep the shouting matches until after we have come to an agreement on the children, I would greatly appreciate it." Both parents murmured noises of agreement.

Miss. Knotgrass nodded her head in satisfaction. "Good. Now I believe before we begin discussing the children's actions today some introductions are in order." Glancing at both parents and seeing as they both nodded their heads in agreement, Miss. Knotgrass then gestured her right hand towards Mal. "Mr. Riley, I'd like you to met Miss. Maleficent Moors and her daughter Aurora." She then gestured her left hand towards the boys. "Miss. Moors, I'd like you to meet Mr. Diaval Riley and his son Damon." Both parents then gave short, clipped nods of reluctant acknowledgment to satisfy the principle before she continued.

"Right now that that is out of the way, we can get on with why I've called you here today. You children seem to have gotten into a rather intense fight today at recess. Their teacher, Miss. Flittle, was not sure how the fight began but it escalated very quickly from a small yelling match to a full-blown fistfight. Neither one of us is one hundred percent sure of the details, but the children just started insulting each other and pretty soon moved on to actual fighting." Mal and Diaval both sat in slack jawed silence, shocked at hearing what had happened between their children. Mal was the first to speak up. "What will the children's punishment be?" Miss. Knotgrass studied both of the parents with a thoughtful expression on her face. "From what Miss. Flittle tells me, Damon and Aurora were very good friends before their fight. We'd rather encourage them to work the problem out themselves and learn something rather then simply send them to the corner for a time out. I suggest that you both organize play dates for the children, to give them some time to work out their issues and repair the friendship."

Diaval furrowed his brows in thought. "I'd be fine with Damon and the other child, Anna..."

"Aurora." Mal corrected sharply. Diaval nodded. "Right sorry. I'm fine with Damon and Aurora working out their problems. Are you willing to allow this as their punishment, Miss. Moors?"

Mal looked at Diaval Riley with an aloof, cool demeanor, raising one eyebrow, then giving a short nod and stood up to leave. She looked over to Miss. Knotgrass. "If that is all Miss. Knotgrass, I'll be taking my daughter home for the day." Without waiting for an answer, Mal and Aurora left.


	3. Milady

Hey guys! Thanks again for the support and reviews of the story :) Sorry for the long wait, I've been pretty busy lately and writer's block has been a pain in my ass for the past few weeks. Anyways, here's chapter three!

Without waiting for an answer, Mal and Aurora left. Mal held Aurora's small hand in hers as they walked back towards her car. "Miss Moors! Miss Moors! Maleficent, wait!" Mal turned as she around to see Diaval Riley and his son running towards her. Mal and Aurora stopped and waited for them catch up. Diaval and Damon quickly caught up to them. Diaval smiled charmingly at Mal. "Ya sure do move fast Maleficent, ya were practically flying down the school hallway." Mal noticed that he had a very nice voice, not to deep with a very slight accent…Irish maybe? Mal realized what she was doing and brushed aside her thoughts. She did not want to smile at his pitiful attempt at a joke, so she bit the inside of her cheek to keep her mouth from turning up.

She calmly smoothed her features into an indifferent expression on her face as she looked at Diaval. "What do you want Mr. Riley?"

She answered. Diaval's smile faded at a bit at the formal greeting.

"You left before I could give you my number." Diaval answered, letting go of his son's hand to pull a card out of his pocket and holding it out to Mal. Mal raised an eyebrow at him. "Your number, Mr. Riley?"

Diaval smirked as he raised his eyebrows back at her. "To organize the play dates Miss Moors? After we wouldn't want to get in trouble with the principle, now would we?" Mal struggled not to roll her eyes at him. "Ah right. I'd forgotten about that." She said, taking the card from him. "I'll try and call later in the week." Diaval nodded and smiled at Mal. "I look forward to it. Milady." Diaval gave a little bow and winked at her before leading his son back towards his car. Mal blinked and tried not to blush at his actions. She hadn't dated since Stefan and she was very cold to most men who tried to talk to her. She'd gotten quite the reputation over the past five years; some went even as far as to call her "the Ice Queen". Apparently this man hadn't heard the rumors yet. "Mama?" Aurora asked, looking up at her mother. Mal snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her daughter.

"Yes beastie?" Mal answered, using Aurora's nickname as she bent down to put Aurora into her car seat. Beastie had been a nickname Mal's grandfather had given her when she was a little girl. It was also what he had called Mal's mother when she had been little as well. Her grandfather had passed away before Aurora was born but giving her daughter the family nickname was Mal's way of giving her daughter a little piece of her great-grandfather to hold on to. "Am I in trouble?" Mal sighed softly as she buckled Aurora's seatbelt. "No beastie, you aren't in trouble." Mal said as she straitened back up. "Are you mad at me?" Mal looked down at her daughter and smiled gently. "No beastie, I'm not mad at you. I was worried about you though." Mal answered as she bent back down to press a quick kiss to Aurora's head before shutting the door and walking around to the driver's side of the car.

Once Mal was in her seat she looked back at Aurora. "Would you like to tell me what happened at school today?" Mal said, waiting for an answer. Aurora chose not to look at her mother deciding instead to start playing with her hair; pulling one of the curls strait and then letting it go so it could bounce back into its usual spiral. "Aurora?"

Aurora still didn't look up, choosing to keep all her focus on her hair. "Aurora Rosellen Moors, we are not going anywhere until you answer me." Aurora finally looked up at her mother and then looked back at her hair, continuing to play with it while she answered her mother's question. "Damon and I were playing catch and we couldn't decide who would throw first and we both wanted to so we decided to play rock, paper, scissors for it. I won but Damon got upset and said I cheated! I told him you can't cheat and rock paper scissors and he said you could.

I really wanted to play before recess ended so I just let him throw first but when he threw it the ball hit me in the head! I know he did it on purpose, so I yelled at him and pushed him and he yelled and pushed me back and we kept yelling and fighting until Miss Flittle came over."

Mal nodded and started the car. Mal pulled out of the school parking lot and started to drive back to Magic Forrest Flowers.

"Does your head still hurt Beastie?" Aurora shook her head.

"No Mama, it stopped hurting a while ago." Mal nodded.

"Ok, I have to go back to work so you'll have to come to. You can work on your homework in Granny's office." "But Mama…" Aurora groaned. Mal smiled at her daughter's lack of enthusiasm towards her homework. "If you finish before the store closes, you can come out front and help me and Granny with the flowers. Ok?" Aurora groaning stopped immediately and she nodded happily at her mother. "Ok Mama." Aurora said. Mal smiled at her daughter again as they pulled into the parking lot of Magic Forrest Flowers. Mal parked and got out of her car. She walked around the car to let Aurora out of her car seat. Aurora smiled up at Mal and lifted arms up. Mal laughed and decided to indulge her daughter, picking Aurora up instead of reminding her that she was old enough to walk on her own. Carrying Aurora on her hip, Mal walked towards the door and Mal opened the shop door. Hearing the shop bell ring when the door opened had pulled Kathy out from her office. Once she spotted Aurora and Mal she rushed over to them, pulling them both into a tight hug. Aurora giggled and managed to hug Kathy back. "Hi Granny!" Aurora chirped out from Kathy's bone-crushing hug. Mal managed to mumble out a muffled greeting from the tangle of arms as well.

"Hiya sprout! How's my favorite little worker today? Have you come to help your old Granny out with the flowers?" Kathy asked Aurora.

Aurora giggled at Kathy. "I'm ok Granny. But Mama says I have to my homework before I can help today." Kathy nodded and smiled at Aurora. "Alright sprout, you can head on back to my office while me and your mama get to work." Aurora nodded as Mal put her down. "I'll check your work over for you when we get home beastie." Mal said, ruffling Aurora's hair. Aurora giggled and nodded as she started to run towards Kathy's office. "Aurora! No running in the store!" Mal called after her. "Sorry Mama!" Aurora yelled back, slowing to a walk until she got to Kathy's office. Once Aurora had shut the door, Kathy looked at Mal. "Well Mally, what happened?" Mal sighed and started to walk over to the counter. "Aurora just got into a fight with one of her friends Kath. It started out with yelling and then it escalated to hitting. The teacher broke it up before it got to out of hand. She's got a lump on her head but she says it doesn't hurt anymore and other than that she seems fine." Kathy nodded. "That's very unusual for Aurora." Mal nodded as she started checking what flower orders had to be prepared and sent out today. "Is she going to be punished for it?" Mal looked up from the orders to glance at Kathy before looking back to the orders.

"Not exactly. That knotgrass woman wanted to settle it peacefully I think so she asked that instead of punishing them, the child go on some play dates to try and work their differences out. I have to call the boy's father to set them up sometime this week." Kathy nodded and smiled. "Well that's not so bad Mally!" Mal grunted as she continued to work. "The boy's father, Diaval Riley, is annoying. First he storms into the principles office making all these threats and blaming Aurora for the whole thing, then he catches up to me in the parking lot and starts to attempt to joke around with me. He kept smiling and winking at me. Before he left he bowed and called me Milady in some attempt to be charming." Kathy gave a little snicker at she listened to Mal's rant. "Yes, yes how dare anyone smile at you of all people. Was he handsome?" Mal rolled her eyes at Kathy's comment. "All I noticed was his pitiful attempt at humor." Kathy started laughing at Mal's indignant look. "Well at least he has a sense of humor, unlike some people eh Mally?" Mal rolled her eyes at Kathy again but she did so with a smile on her face. "Can we just get back to work please, Kath?" Kathy looked at Mal with a smirk on her face and started wiggling her eyebrows. "Whatever you say. Milady." Mal couldn't help it then. She burst out laughing. The rest of the week went smoothly with work and Aurora keeping Mal to busy to remember the obnoxious man in black. Until today, she had completely forgotten about him. Kath had asked her on their lunch break if she had called "Mr. Riley" yet. Mal had said no and promised that she would call him tonight. Mal looked down at the phone in her hands. She looked at the card in her hand. "Diaval C Riley. Home repairs and Gardening." Mal read the card out loud. She sighed as she dialed the number on the card. She held the phone to her ear and waited. "Hello?" "Hello, Mr. Riley?"


End file.
